Life in the military is not just about being in the service. The families of the troops face a unique set of circumstances far different from the civilian world. Home Post writes about all aspects of military life and how it is represented in media and pop culture.

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Service members and veterans face a unique set of health care issues, whether its PTSD or TBI. Home Post covers these health issues, as well as any changes to the benefits troops and vets rely on – like TRICARE and military pensions.

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San Diego is home to several major military installations, like Camp Pendleton and Naval Base San Diego. Home Post covers important issues that touch the lives of service members and their families who call these installations home.

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Post-9/11 veterans face a unique set of issues, like post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, and unemployment. Home Post reports on what affects the veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also remembers the sacrifices of the veterans who came before them.

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Iraq

In the days following the suicide car bombing in 2004, Carlos didn’t feel angry. He didn’t feel frightened. He didn’t even mourn the men who were so brutally killed that day. Carlos didn’t feel anything at all. He was completely numb.

He learned to detach himself from his own well-being. He accepted what he assumed was his impending death; it was clear to him he would ...

There was a shyness about Carlos, despite his intimidating appearance. Muscles earned from years of required physical fitness bulge under his black shirt, his sleeves pushed up to his elbows to reveal a maze of tattoos covering both of his forearms.

Shiny rhinestones rested in each of his earlobes, and a steal post pierced the area below his lower lip.

I first met Carlos Cruz in 2012, the Sunday after the Fourth of July, and two weeks after he officially retired from the Marine Corps.

It took quite a few email exchanges to nail down the time and day of our meeting. One of the most marked symptoms of the Traumatic Brain Injury Carlos suffered in the suicide attack was his inability to remember small details.

“A man, well, he'll walk right into Hell with both eyes open. But even the devil can't fool a dog.” -Earl Hamner, Jr.

PART II

The Mercedes, filled with what turned out to be 200 pounds of explosives, smashed into the Humvee. The blast incinerated both vehicles. The only part of the Humvee that remained was its sizzling engine block.

“A man, well, he'll walk right into Hell with both eyes open. But even the devil can't fool a dog.” -Earl Hamner, Jr.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) have been called the hallmark wounds of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to a 2008 Rand study, one in five American service members who’ve been deployed in the post-9/11 wars suffer from ...

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected the attempt by military contractors KBR Inc. and Halliburton Co. to block lawsuits against them that deal with electrocution and burn pits on bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to The Associated Press reports. The contractors hoped to curtail the lawsuits with appeals.

One of the lawsuits concerns the 2008 death of Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth in Iraq, who was electrocuted while taking ...

The unit, made up of troops from Camp Pendleton, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and Twentynine Palms, is training as many as 1,200 Iraqis in six-week blocks to prepare them for a counteroffensive ...

So, military doctors wondered, how to relieve the pressure within the soldier’s skull without killing him? The answer was something called a craniectomy. The inventor was an Army neurosurgeon named Col. Rocco Armonda.

All Armonda ever wanted was to be an officer in the Army Medical Corps. At age 17 he joined the Army by attending the United States Military Academy at West Point. He earned his medical degree ...

So, how did medicine evolve so rapidly that the chance of dying in the war in Afghanistan shrank to ten percent?

Most medical advances in war usually happen by accident, with a military doc facing a traumatically injured patient he’s not sure how to fix, according to Dr. Fred Mading, a Navy veteran (and my brother-in-law). Fred told me the doctor or medic tries everything he or she can ...

About Home Post

Home Post explores military life and military families in San Diego. Blogger Beth Ford Roth was born into a military family, and has covered issues important to servicemembers and their loved ones for many years. She has worked as a broadcast journalist in both commercial television and public radio.

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ABOUT THIS SITE

Home Post explores military life and military families in San Diego. Blogger Beth Ford Roth was born into a military family, and has covered issues important to servicemembers and their loved ones for many years. She has worked as a broadcast journalist in both commercial television and public radio.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Some 1,700 Marines and sailors are participating in the training at the Camp Pendleton that will prepare military leaders for how to execute such a large operation should they be called to do so. Read more →